The demographic evidence of gender bias in many countries has provided an impetus for finding ways to study the status of women in developing countries. Because of the lack of accurate ...intra-household data,
Deaton 1989
introduced a method for using household expenditure data to infer discrimination in the allocation of goods between boys and girls. Few studies of discrimination using the method, however, have detected bias even though alternative indicators suggest it is a serious problem. In this paper, we study the case of Papua New Guinea, a country in which there are many indicators of severe gender bias. Discrimination in the allocation of goods between boys and girls within households in Papua New Guinea is examined using Deaton's outlay-equivalent ratio method. Adding a boy to the household reduces expenditure on adult goods by as much as would a nine-tenths reduction in total outlay per member, but girls have no effect on adult goods expenditure. The hypothesis of
Haddad and Reardon 1993
that gender bias is inversely related to the importance of female labour in agricultural production is not supported. Sensitivity analysis shows that bias in rural areas occurs equally regardless of the age of the household head, while bias against girls may be less in regions of the country that have ethnic groups which practice matrilineal descent.
The present study focuses on the flow of fiscal and financial resources in China's rural economy during the first two decades of reform. Specifically, we seek to quantify the nature and direction of ...the capital flows between agriculture and the non‐agricultural sectors and between the rural and non‐rural sectors. We track identify the flows of three main sources of capital: fiscal flows, financial shifts through the formal banking system, and the implicit taxes that are moving through the grain system as a result of payment of in‐kind (e.g., delivery quotas by farmers). Through this analysis, we provide policy makers with a set of measures showing that although in recent years the agriculture‐to‐industry and rural‐to‐urban flows have appeared to reverse themselves, as late as 2000 it does not appear as if the government is not directing enough resources into the rural economy. Greater flows, however, are needed if rural China is to modernize.
This paper explores China＇s digital divide, with a focus on differences in access to computers, learning software, and the Internet at school and at home among different groups of elementary school ...children in China. The digital divide is examined in four different dimensions： （i） between students in urban public schools and students in rural public schools; （ii） between students in rural public schools and students in private migrant schools; （iii） between migrant students in urban public schools and migrant students in private migrant schools; and （iv） between students in Han-dominated rural areas and students in areas inhabited by ethnic minorities. Using data from a set of large-scale surveys in schools in different parts of the country, we find a wide gap between computer and Internet access of students in rural areas and those in urban public schools. The gap widens further when comparing urban students to students from minority areas. The divide is also large between urban and rural schools when examining the quality of computer instruction and access to learning software. Migration does not appear to eliminate the digital divide, unless migrant families are able to enroll their children in urban public schools. The digital divide in elementary schools may have implications for future employment, education and income inequality in China.
This paper develops a dynamic model of the evolution of pest a population and pest resistance to characterize the socially optimal refuge strategy for managing a pest’s resistance to genetically ...modified crops. Previous theoretical economic analyses of this problem focus on steady states; we also address refuge policies along the optimal path to the final equilibrium. To elaborate on our theoretical analysis of the resistance problem, we develop a simulation model calibrated to cotton (Gossypium spp.) production in China. Our results show the importance of fitness cost as a determinant of the qualitative nature of optimal refuge policies.
The area sown to Bt cotton has expanded rapidly in China since 1997. It has effectively controlled the bollworm. However, in recent years, concern has surfaced about the emergence of secondary insect ...pests, particular mirids, in Bt cotton fields. This study measures the patterns of insecticide use based on farm-level from 1999 to 2006, the analysis demonstrates a rise in insecticide use to control mirids between 2001 and 2004, secondary insect infestations is largely related to the rise of mirids, but this rising did not continue in more than half of sample villages studied in 2004-2006. Moreover, the increase in insecticide use for the control of secondary insects is far smaller than the reduction in total insecticide use due to Bt cotton adoption. Further econometric analyses show that rise and fall of mirids is largely related to local temperature and rainfall.
Researchers often use unit values (household expenditures on a commodity divided by the quantity purchased) as proxies for market prices when calculating poverty lines and estimating consumer demand ...equations. Such proxies are often needed because community price surveys in developing economies are either absent or suffer quality problems. However, using unit values may result in biases due to measurement error and quality effects. In a household survey experiment, information on prices was obtained in three ways: from unit values, from a market price survey, and from the opinions of householders who were shown pictures of items and asked to report the local price. The three sets of price data are used to calculate poverty lines, estimate price elasticities, and analyze marginal tax reforms. There are substantial biases when unit values are used as a proxy for market price, even when sophisticated correction methods are applied. Performance was better for the price opinions of household members. The results highlight the importance of price collection methods and the need to consider the wider costs of having potentially unreliable community-level price data.
The goal of this paper is to understand the nature of the property rights associated with China's land tenure systems and to study the impact of these property rights on agricultural production ...efficiency. The results show that land tenure and associated property rights in rural China affect the production behavior of farmers. The most robust finding is that the right to use land for long periods of time encourages the use of land-saving investments. While the results show that land tenure affects agricultural production decisions, the difference between collective and private plots, however, is small compared to the private plot-communal productivity gap that existed in the pre-reform period.
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